This was recorded I think during the 2002 festival. Mneme was / is an acoustic string group that has had a number of different people playing either in it or with it. The original line up was Phil Hargreaves, Neil Murphy and Adam Webster, however cellist Simon Bradley from Leeds and Liverpool violinist Simon Jones have all played with some sort of regularity. Mneme have also been joined by a number of other string players, Simon Fell on this recording, Christoph Irmer, Andrea Martin and Jon Edwards.

This was a performance of the Frakture Big Band with Ben Patterson, from Fluxus, who happened to be in Liverpool. The concert was split into two halves – one performing Ben Patterson’s graphic scores and the other half, dare I say it, free improvisation, of which this is one. There may be a couple of musicians, who I have accidentally missed out from the FBB line up too – such a transient group.

This was recorded at possibly Swung Dash’s first gig, which was part of the Listening Room series of events. I think possibly even as a fill in for something else that didn’t happen. It is a predominantly Liverpool based quartet that nobody knows whether they exist as a quartet anymore. When a couple of the musicians were asked they said ‘I don’t know’.

The Frakture Big Band is a large-scale improvising group from Liverpool. This was recorded as part of a project for 80 Days Around the City where the Frakture Big Band performed and recorded in the Picton Reading Room at Central Library, the Williamson Tunnels and St James’ Oratory, where this was recorded. And it was very very cold. The Picton Rooms and the Williamson Tunnels were performed in front of audiences however this was purely a recording session. Look at http://www.frakture.org/ensembles/fbb.htm

Corringham & Thomas Recorded 04 October 2002 at Bluecoat Arts Centre as part of the Frakture Festival

This was a duo that played in our 2002 festival. Avery skittish duo would be a good way to describe them. It seemed no sound they made lasted longer than, or even as long, as a second. Music on the move you might say. Look at http://hometown.aol.co.uk/vivdc/

The Bohman Brothers are a London based duo that used to run the Bonnington Centre in Vauxhall. They are non-instrument based players whose performances are often wonderfully funny. Looking at http://www.xs4all.nl/~lukas/pagina/bohmans.htm will give you more extensive and better information than I could. Adam

Johannes Bergmark is a Swedish musician based in Poland whilst Phil Morton is based in Toxteth. J. Bergmark sometimes lies in a coffin and growls. Here though, he has made a table with all kinds of objects on it, which are amplified. Phil Morton likes to find objects and then find sounds from these found objects. Go and look at www.bergmark.org/

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Mick Beck (04 October 2002) Recorded at Bluecoat Arts Centre at the Frakture Festival.

Mick Beck is a Sheffield based saxophonist and bassooner of staggering power and virtuosity. So far, I think he is the only improvising bassoon player on Frakture’s list. He also runs Discus Records. Go look at http://efi.group.shef.ac.uk/mbeck.html

This was recorded at a gig during the 2007 Frakture festival. I personally like that lack of subtlety in the sound world, although there is plenty of subtleness in the playing and approach. I am particularly fond of the sound of the electronics on this piece. They also sound rude - ish. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=147496816 is where to go to hear more and even read a bit about them.

This is quite an unusual piece by Frakture’s general level as it uses beats – and even a song. With words. And melody. The Remote Viewers were very good at that. http://www.theremoteviewers.com/ is the place to find out more and more.

This was recorded at Arena studios as part of 8 Days A Week Liverpool Cologne exchange. The performance was moving round the studios, with Brigitte, Ray Dickaty and Phil Lucking starting in the gallery space, and then moving around the building finding the rest of the Frakture Big Band. On this recording though, some of the FBB weren’t found, as they were hidden away in the very top of the building…